Round-mouthed shovel



Feb. 6, 1962 J. ROKOS ROUND-MOUTHED SI-IOVEL Filed June 25, 1959 INVENTOR. J. AOAUS A TTO/PAIEKI.

tit ta This invention relates generally to earth-working tools, and is particularly concerned with a novel edge construction for such tools.

While the invention has been primarily developed and employed for use in conjunction with manually operable earth-working tools, and will be illustrated and described hereinafter with particular reference thereto, it is understood that the new and improved edge construction of of the present invention is applicable to a wide variety of earth-working tools, all of which applications are intended to be comprehended herein.

As is well known to those versed in the art, the major part of effort expended in manual digging and similar earth-working procedures is that of initially pushing or impaling an implement, such as a shovel, spade, or the like, into the ground. The subsequent turning or removal of the earth does not usually require as much physical exertion.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide an edge construction for earthworking tools which overcomes the above-mentioned difiiculty, and considerably reduces the force and exertion required to impale the tool edgewise into the earth.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an edge construction for an earth-Working tool having the advantageous characteristics mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and which is well adapted for use in conjunction with all earth-Working tools requiring impaling or edgewise insertion into the ground.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved tool structure of the type described which is extremely simple in construction and durable in use, and which can be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FiGURE 1 is a front elevational view showing the blade of a spade or round-mouthed shovel constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a partial end view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FTGURE 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the embodiment illustrated therein comprises generally a shovel blade or scoop 1d, and a handle 11 connected to the rear or upper region of the blade by a conventional tubular member 12.

The blade 14 is of somewhat dished or hollow configuration, having a forward concave surface 15, and a rearward convex surface 16. That is, the blade 18 is formed of a dished platelike member; and further, the blade may have its lower marginal portion or mouth region 1'7 bounded by a convexly arcuate edge 18.

The platelike blade 19 is formed in its lower marginal region 17 with a plurality of cutouts 26 extending ines tit Federated Feb. 6, 1

gions 23 remaining between the cutouts define a pluralityof generally fiat, laterally spaced teeth extending outward from the edges 22. As the parallel side edges 21 of the cutouts 2t) define the side edges of the teeth 23, the latter extend outward in substantial parallelism with each other. As best seen in FIGURE 1, the distal extremity of each tooth 23 is defined by a generally laterally disposed continuous edge 24 extending between and terminating at the opposite side edges 21 of the respective tooth. The distal edges 24 are all located along a curved line continuing from the bounding plate edge 18. Also seen in FIGURE 1, the inner edges 22 of the cutouts 20 are located along an arcuate line extending in spaced, substantial parallelism with the line of the edges 24. The areas of the teeth 23 and the cutouts 29 are all approximately equal.

The edges 22 and 24 are preferably sharp for cutting engagement with material into which the blade is impaled. This sharp, cutting characteristic of the edges 22 and 24 is advantageously achieved by forming a plurality of substantially parallel edge surfaces 25 and 26, respectively, which intersect with the convex surface 16 of the plate member 10 at an acute angle. That is, the sharp inner edges 22 are defined by the intersection of the plate surface 16 and the edge surfaces 25, while the distal cutting edges 24 are defined by the intersection of the edge surfaces 26 with the convex plate surface, see FIG- URE 2.

It will now be appreciated that the above-described cutting-edge construction may be considered either as a plate formed with a plurality of laterally spaced cutouts 20, or as a plate formed with a plurality of laterally spaced teeth 23 projecting outward from the plate edges 22. In practice, it has been found desirable to form the edges 22 and 24 of substantially equal dimensions, and also to form the depth of the cutouts 2%, along the side edges 21, substantially equal to the length of the sharp edges.

In use, the blade is relatively easily impaled in even extremely hard ground, as the sharp distal edges 24 of the teeth 23 enter the ground initially and relatively easily. Upon slight forward and rearward movement of the blade 16 after entry of the teeth 23 into the ground, the ground is opened up along lines affording easy entry of the edges 22 into the ground for additional impaling of the mouth portion 17. Further, as the side edges 21 of the cutouts 20 are all parallel, it is seen that roots, twigs, and other relatively difficult earth matter will not wedge in the cutouts upon insertion of the blade into the ground, so that the cutouts remain unclogged.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the present invention provides a novel and unique edge construction which greatly facilitates the impaling of an earth-working tool into the ground, and otherwise fully accomplishes its in tended objects.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an earth-working tool, a dished plate having one side concave and the other side convex, said plate being provided along one margin with a plurality of laterally spaced cutouts each extending inward from the plate edge of said one plate margin between entirely straight sideedge faces parallel to each other and to the remaining cutout side edge faces and terminating at an inner edge face extending laterally between the side edge faces of the respective cutout, said inner edge faces and the plate edge faces between said cutouts all being disposed in substantially parallel planes and each intersecting at an acute angle with the convex side of said plate.

2. An earth-working tool according to claim 1, wherein the inner cutout edge faces and the plate edge faces of said one margin between said cutouts extend along sub stantially parallel lines.

3. An earth-working tool according to claim 2, wherein the lines along which said inner cutout edges and the plate edges between said cutouts extend are convexly arcuate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I g-ix", 

